TIMES OF ISRAEL
Pope Francis, ‘suffering fuels terror’? Look at the Jews
by Gheula Canarutto Nemni
December 2, 2015

Dear Pope Francis, In the impassioned plea for social justice you made in an address to Kenyan lawmakers in Nairobi last week, you asserted that “violence, conflict and terrorism…are fueled by fear and desperation…born of poverty and frustration.” Yet nothing, not even desperation, can justify terrorism. The roots of terrorism lie only in hatred-based education. We Jews have a lot of experience with desperation. But our history shows other more constructive ways out of it. Desperation has never been a justification for Jews to commit violent acts in the name of our religion. We have been paraded through the streets of Rome in chains while our Sanctuary in Jerusalem was in flames. We have been thrown into amphitheaters where hungry lions and spectators waited for our blood. We have been burnt in autos-da-fé, we have been called marranos, our candle lighting and prayers in our ancestral tongue have been banned…READ MORE